Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

By SADAQAT JAN and ZARAR KHANAssociated Press Writers RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan opposition leader BenazirBhutto was assassinated Thursday by an attacker who shot her aftera campaign rally and then blew himself up. Her death stoked newchaos across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally inthe war on terrorism. At least 20 others were killed in the attack on the rally forJan. 8 parliamentary elections where the 54-year-old former primeminister had just spoken. At least nine people were killed across the country in riotingthat broke out in the aftermath of the assassination. In thesouthern port city of Karachi, where she was born, angry Bhuttosupporters shot at police and burned a gas station. At the hospital where Bhutto died, some supporters smashed glassand wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf,whom they blamed for not ensuring her safety. Musharraf blamedIslamic extremists for her death and said he would redouble hisefforts to fight them. "This is the work of those terrorists with whom we are engagedin war," he said in a nationally televised speech. "I have beensaying that the nation faces the greatest threats from theseterrorists. ... We will not rest until we eliminate theseterrorists and root them out." In the U.S., a tense looking President Bush strongly condemnedthe attack "by murderous extremists who are trying to underminePakistan's democracy." White House spokesman Scott Stanzel saidBush spoke briefly by phone with Musharraf. Musharraf convened an emergency meeting with his senior staff,where they were expected to discuss whether to postpone theelections, an official at the Interior Ministry said, speaking oncondition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. The government announced three days of mourning for Bhutto,including the closing of schools, commercial centers and banks. Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister and leader of arival opposition party, demanded Musharraf resign immediately andannounced his party would boycott the upcoming election. The attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressedthousands of supporters in the Rawalpindi, a city 8 miles south ofIslamabad where the army is headquartered. She was shot in the neckand chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said RehmanMalik, Bhutto's security adviser. Sardar Qamar Hayyat, a leader from Bhutto's party, said at thetime of the attack he was standing about 10 yards away from hervehicle - a white, bulletproof SUV with a sunroof. "She was inside the vehicle and was coming out from the gateafter addressing the rally when some of the youths started chantingslogans in her favor. Then I saw a smiling Bhutto emerging from thevehicle's roof and responding to their slogans," he said. "Then I saw a thin, young man jumping toward her vehicle fromthe back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speedingvehicle going away," he added. Mangled bodies lay in a pool of blood and pieces of clothing andshoes were scattered on the road. The clothing of some victims wasshredded and people covered their bodies with party flags. There was an acrid smell of explosive fumes in the air. Police cordoned off the street and rescuers rushed to putvictims in ambulances as onlookers wailed nearby. Bhutto was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergencysurgery. She died about an hour after the attack. Hours later, her body was carried out of the hospital in a plainwooden coffin by a crowd of supporters. Her body was expected to betransferred to an air base and brought to her hometown of Larkana. A doctor on the team that treated her said she had a bullet inthe back of the neck that damaged her spinal cord before exitingfrom the side of her head. Another bullet pierced the back of hershoulder and came out through her chest. She was given open heart massage, but the main cause of deathwas damage to her spinal cord, he said on condition of anonymitybecause he was not authorized to speak to the media. "At 6:16 p.m., she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member ofBhutto's party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital. "The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred," Bhutto'slawyer Babar Awan said. Bhutto's supporters at the hospital exploded in anger, smashingthe glass door at the main entrance of the emergency unit. Othersburst into tears. One man with a flag of Bhutto's Pakistan People'sParty tied around his head was beating his chest. "I saw her with my own eyes sitting in a vehicle afteraddressing the rally. Then, I heard an explosion," Tahir Mahmood,55, said sobbing. "I am in shock. I cannot believe that she isdead." Many chanted slogans against Musharraf, accusing him ofcomplicity in her killing. "We repeatedly informed the government to provide her propersecurity and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paidno heed to our requests," said Malik, the security adviser. As news of her death spread, angry supporters took to thestreets. In Karachi, shop owners quickly closed their businesses asprotesters set tires on fire on the roads, torched several vehiclesand burned a gas station, said Fayyaz Leghri, a local policeofficial. Gunmen shot and wounded two police officers, he said. One man was killed in a shootout between police and protestersin Tando Allahyar, a town 120 miles north of Karachi, said MayorKanwar Naveed. In the town of Tando Jam, protesters forcedpassengers to get out of a train and then set it on fire. Two people were killed in the southern Sindh province and twoothers in Lahore, police said. Violence also broke out in Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and manyother parts of Pakistan, where Bhutto's supporters burned banks,state-run grocery stores and private shops. Some set fire toelection offices for the ruling party, according to Pakistanimedia. Akhtar Zamin, home minister for the southern Sindh province,said authorities would deploy troops to stop violence if needed. Musharraf urged calm. "I want to appeal to the nation to remain peaceful and exerciserestraint," he said. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a Democrat from Rhode Island, was inPakistan and on his way to have dinner with Bhutto Thursday nightwhen he learned of her killing. "You could really feel the tragedy of this loss because Bhuttoreally represented hope here for so many people," he said, addingthat turmoil was engulfing much of the country. "Her death really dashed the hope of many here in Pakistan andthat's why there's so much disillusionment and anger being ventedthrough these protests that are lighting up the sky tonight aspeople set fires all over the countryside," Kennedy told the AP ina telephone interview. Sharif arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Bhutto'sbody. "Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you totake the revenge for her death," he said. "Don't feel alone. I amwith you. We will take the revenge on the rulers." He rebutted suggestions that he could gain political capitalfrom her demise, announcing his Muslim League-N party would boycottthe elections and demanding that Musharraf resign. "The holding of fair and free elections is not possible in thepresence of Pervez Musharraf," he said. "Musharraf is the causeof all the problems. The federation of Pakistan cannot remainintact in the presence of President Musharraf," he told a newsconference. "After the killing of Benazir Bhutto, I announce that thePakistan Muslim League-N will boycott the elections," Sharif said."I demand that Musharraf should quit immediately." Hours earlier, four people were killed at a rally for Sharifwhen his supporters clashed with backers of Musharraf nearRawalpindi. Bhutto's death will leave a void at the top of her party, thelargest political group in the country, as it heads into theelections. Pakistan is considered a vital U.S. ally in the fight againstal-Qaida and other Islamic extremists including the Taliban. Osamabin Laden and his inner circle are believed to be hiding in lawlessnorthwest Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan. The U.S. has invested significant diplomatic capital inpromoting reconciliation between Musharraf and the opposition,particularly Bhutto, who was seen as having a wide base of supportin Pakistan. Her party had been widely expected to do well in nextmonth's elections. Had the PPP either won a majority of seats or enough to puttogether a majority coalition, Bhutto could have recaptured the jobof prime minister. Bush, speaking briefly to reporters at his ranch in Crawford,Texas, demanded that those responsible for the killing be broughtto justice. "The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act bymurderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan'sdemocracy," said Bush, who looked tense and took no questions. The assassination and concerns of further internationalinstability were cited as one reason for a fall in U.S. stockprices and a rise in oil prices Thursday. In afternoon trade, theDow Jones Industrial Average of blue chip stocks was down more than140 points or more than 1 percent. The U.N. Security Council also condemned the assassination. Pakistan was just emerging from another crisis after Musharrafdeclared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, and used sweeping powersto round up thousands of his opponents and fire Supreme Courtjustices. He ended emergency rule Dec. 15 and subsequentlyrelinquished his role as army chief, a key opposition demand.Bhutto had been an outspoken critic of Musharraf's imposition ofemergency rule. Educated at Harvard and Oxford universities, Bhutto served twiceas Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. Her father was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, scion of a wealthylandowning family in southern Pakistan and founder of the populistPakistan People's Party. The elder Bhutto was president and thenprime minister of Pakistan before his ouster in a 1977 militarycoup. Two years later, he was executed by the government of Gen.Zia-ul Haq after being convicted of engineering the murder of apolitical opponent. Bhutto had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile on Oct.18. On the same day, she narrowly escaped injury when herhomecoming parade in Karachi was targeted in a suicide attack thatkilled more than 140 people. Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida and the Taliban hatedBhutto for her close ties to the Americans and support for the waron terrorism. A local Taliban leader reportedly threatened to greetBhutto's return to the country with suicide bombings. Hundreds of riot police had manned security checkpoints aroundthe rally venue Thursday, Bhutto's first public meeting inRawalpindi since she came back to the country. In recent weeks, suicide bombers have repeatedly targetedsecurity forces in Rawalpindi. In November, Bhutto had also planned a rally in the city, butMusharraf forced her to cancel it, citing security fears. ---- Associated Press reporter Andrew Miga contributed to this reportfrom Washington.

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